


Strays

by Magpie57



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Private School, Everyone is Queer, Except For Nora, Gen, LGBTQ Club AU, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 22:43:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8866342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magpie57/pseuds/Magpie57
Summary: Every time Glynda teaches her psychology section on gender and sexuality, she dreads the number of unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally) harsh questions and the inevitable awkward counseling sessions that occur when students feel that they can turn to her with their identities.Ruby Rose proposes a GSA, mitigating her sessions almost entirely.Glynda runs with it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So um, I should be working on Fairy Tales. But I'm not. And then this happened.

Glynda dreaded this part of every year. She loathed the way her insides clenched in terror, as if she was the one sitting among the rows of desks. Her hands balled up into fists and her back was stiff as she tensed for the question or comment that always occurred - as it had fifteen years ago, when she was in their positions. She almost breathed a sigh of relief as Ruby Rose slowly brought her hand up.

“I- we all know about hetero and bi and homosexual,” she said slowly, “But what about everything else?”

The teacher arched her brows in surprise; a surprise for the first time in her eleven years of teaching. The girl in red saw this and sunk a little in her seat, face going pink. Several students made faces but a handful… they looked intrigued. Glynda cleared her throat lightly. “There are other labels,” she agreed slowly, “Miss Rose is correct. However, some have only become more well known in recent times, much like other gender identities.”

She took in a wave of confusion, some disgust, and a hint of fear. How many students would she awkwardly console this year, she wondered. “Would anyone like to name and explain a few?” she nodded to Ruby. Glynda supposed there was another reason Ozpin had allowed her in early, though it seemed to be wearing on the shy fifteen-year-old.

Now the girl sat up a bit, “Just one? Uh, well, I’m demisexual.” She continued over a wave of murmurs, “That means I only feel- ah, physical attraction after I’m emotionally close to someone. It’s only happened twice before so…” she trailed off, looking for help.

“There is also asexual.” Weiss Schnee, who’d had a great deal to say against the advanced student, came to her rescue. “That is the absence of sexual attraction, though the actual sexual activity of the person depends upon them and what they would do for their partner.” She spoke briskly and clinically, icy eyes refusing to land on the grinning youth beside her.

In the back of the classroom, a hand went up. “Miss Belladonna,” Glynda acknowledged.

The dark-haired girl made a face, subconsciously adjusting her thick headband- which the teacher knew hid her ears, though what kind Ozpin had never confirmed. “Pansexuality is the attraction to any and all sexes and gender identities.”

A blonde boy (Glynda internally groaned at the sight of Jaune) raised his hand. “Other sexes,” he asked, voice getting higher than usual.

“Yup.” It appeared that Miss Xiao Long had arisen from her daily nap. “Some people’s genetics are a bit screwy and they can have mixed bits- that’s called intersexed, according to my mom.” She bit back a yawn, “And of course, people who are transitioning between genders.”

“Also, lots of genders in between and outside of boy and girl,” Nora chirped. “Agender, nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid-”

A young man gave her arm a light poke, “They get it, Nora,” he said patiently, though he was tugging on the end of his ponytail, much like Glynda had seen him when cramming for midterms last semester.

“Thank you,” the teacher said, before things could get further out of hand. “As you see, there are many fine gradations of sexuality and gender. Humans and Faunus are complicated creatures.”

“Why are people queer?” Arms crossed and looking a bit uncomfortable, Cardin Winchester had spoken up. “Why can’t they just be normal?” He shot a chilly look at Ruby, who looked agitated by his words.

And there it was.

After Ruby’s impromptu coming out and a handful of otherwise disinterested students’ answers, Glynda found herself impatient with Cardin’s questions.

_Crack!_

Everyone in the room jumped in their seats as the teacher’s ruler, kept beside her lecture podium, smacked against the nearest desk. Poor Jaune looked ready to piss himself.

“I will not hear something like that again,” Glynda stated patiently. “People who do not conform to societal commonalities are perfectly natural- they are normal.” She caught Ruby’s eyes and had to get a grip on her emotions at the look of hope on her face. “Whether or not you agree with it, you will have to deal with it, Mr. Winchester. That is the way the world is and has always been. Now they simply have names and voices.”

Before any arguments could arise, the bell rung. Glynda nearly collapsed against her podium- the gods were on her side today. She leaned heavily against the fixture, eagerly awaiting the lunch period shortly to follow. Seeing disgust and fear so prominent in her students’ eyes always took it out of her, no matter how well she held up a façade of stoicism.

However, in the flurry of notebooks and pens being stuffed in bags and coats being yanked on, Ruby Rose was looking pensive; if that ever boded well for anyone, Glynda would not believe it. Her sister, stretching luxuriously, lingered by her desk, saying something lost in the din of movement.

Miss Schnee stood at the door, waiting impatiently for the girl in red whom she regularly tutored- not that she needed it, Miss Rose just wanted the extra help in order to make A’s and B’s, though a two point oh from Beacon was worth more than a four point oh at the average school.

Rather than go to Weiss, Ruby approached Glynda. The teacher’s nails dug into her palms.

“Professor Goodwitch,” the girl asked slowly. When Glynda didn’t snap at her, she continued, “You said that we- people like me- have voices now, but… There’s no GSA here, not like at Signal.” The teacher nodded, not sure she was liking were this was going. “If I started one, do you think any teacher would agree to supervise it?”

The psychology teacher was hesitant for a moment. Oobleck would, even if he had to work around the AP Remnant History group. She knew that Port, Fall, and Torchwick just wouldn’t supervise clubs with all the students coming to them for extra help (and Torchwick’s overall laziness). _Maybe_ Peach, if she didn’t have the drama club to worry about. She mentally ran over the others as quickly as possible, watching as Ruby’s face fell a bit.

Fuck me, she decided. “I know that I would.”

Glynda could practically hear Miss Schnee gawping from the doorway, while Ruby and Yang looked like they’d been hit by a truck. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Miss Belladonna pause before passing Weiss, golden eyes glancing over one shoulder, before hurrying off with renewed speed.

“So long as you can gather ten members before the end of this semester and find people to act as president and treasurer, even if only in title, you can start a GSA,” Glynda told her. “And I will speak on your behalf.” She paused, “There are club forms in the admissions office. Now, are you three going to lunch, or would you like a further lecture?”

The moment the door closed behind Yang, she pulled her phone out of her slacks pocket.

‘I think I just made a very bad decision,’ she texted.

The response was almost instantaneous: ‘I can’t wait to hear about this 24/7 for the next six months. :P’

“You are such a child,” Glynda muttered aloud, knowing that she didn’t need to send the message.

~

“I can _not_ believe Professor Goodwitch just agreed to that,” Weiss said numbly, for the third time on their way to lunch.

Yang leered over her sister’s shoulder at the heiress, “Do I sense judgment? I am bi, you know.”

The pale girl flushed, “And Ruby is demi, I know and I don’t care. You’re still humans.” She narrowed her eyes a bit, “More or less.”

“Ouch, Ice Queen,” the blonde said, hand over her heart, “You really know where to hit.”

“Guys,” Ruby grumbled. She really didn’t want the two of them getting started; the bickering was funny some days, but only until both sides actually got offended and when they should have been doing math. Gods, Ruby despised geometry. “Can we not? I really wanna get those forms.”

Weiss looked surprised, “I support you and all, but aren’t you a little worried?”

Ruby didn’t get to answer. “If anyone doesn’t like it, they can take it up with me,” Yang stated, smacking her palm with her fist. She had a point; not a lot of people wanted to mess with Beacon’s resident boxing champion. There wasn’t a boy in the school who would take her on individually. Ruby on the other hand… As irritating as the girl could be, Weiss would hate to see her hurt.

“But will you be able to look after everyone,” Weiss asked. The blonde scowled and the heiress raised her hands defensively, “I’m just saying this because I’ve seen how awful the bullying can be. It’s far worse in Atlas than it is here in Vale,” she told her. “I’ve seen more than one person get beaten up because they held hands with the wrong person.” Her scar twinged.

Yang deflated a bit, looking like she conceded the point.

“We’ll just have to all look after each other,” Ruby said gently, taking a few strides ahead to lead the way to the office. “A lot of the club will be in the minority,” she admitted, “But not everyone will and they can stand up for each other.” Silver eyes held blue, “You’ll look after us, right?”

Every instinct screamed at Weiss to get out of the situation, to think of her reputation and her father’s disapproval at her choice in activities. But all she could think of was what could happen to other people, shy, innocent teens like Ruby who just wanted to be themselves.

She sighed, “Of course, Ruby. You can expect support from me.”

For the first time in the three months they’d known each other, Yang gave Weiss an approving grin. “Sweet Rubes, our first straight support!” Yang missed the way Weiss winced at the words.

In the office Neo sat perched on the secretary’s desk- it was _technically_ her job- with the stick of a sucker poking out of her lips, heterochromic eyes dancing at the sight of them. She set her clipboard on her lap to sign at Yang, swift and incomprehensible to anyone else.

Of course, Yang only knew a few signs so she spelled out, ‘F U shorty.’

Though perfectly capable of speaking, the college student preferred to speak in her mother’s sign language and acted as the unofficial deaf interpreter in a few classes. She made a gesture that Ruby translated as, “Well, whaddaya want?”

“Um, I need a club registration form,” Ruby said hesitantly. She was always afraid of sounding like she was talking at Neo rather than to her; she felt like Neo knew that and enjoyed it.

The young woman arched a perfect brow, but handed the form over. She signed at Yang.

“GSA, brat,” Yang replied. Those two had known each other since Yang was a freshman at Beacon, the junior taking her in, in the way that a cat person would take in a Great Dane. Ruby still didn’t understand their relationship. “We’re gonna do activist shit.”

Ruby was hunched over the desk, filling in the form as neatly as possible (Weiss watching intently over her shoulder), but she could see Neo straighten a little and sign more, this time more deliberately perhaps so that Yang didn’t have to guess at what she was saying.

“Well, it’s obviously got me, Ruby, and Ice Queen,” she tilted her head. “And Goodwitch agreed to supervise and all that fun stuff as long as we can get ten members.”

Neo let out an audible click of surprise, making Ruby glance up at her. The tiny woman’s smile grew and she continued signing at Yang while Weiss urged her to finish up the form so they weren’t last in line.

“Uh, I dunno. Hey, Weiss,” Yang said.

“What?” the heiress said, sounding like her patience was thin.

“Well, you know school rules, right?”

“You don’t? I mean, considering all the ones you break you must have figured out a few.”

The blonde actually chuckled at that, “Nah, nothing sticks up here. Anyway, Neo was wondering if faculty could get involved in school activities- i.e. clubs.”

“I don’t think that you’d count as an official member,” Weiss told her, “But you could definitely get involved if you wanted to. Some extra support would be nice.” And frankly, Weiss wouldn’t mess with Neo any more than she’d mess with Yang. According to school mythos their first and only fight was epic and almost one-sided; Ruby said that Yang had a broken nose and two black eyes- Neo’s hair had been ruffled.

Neo signed once more, but Weiss got it- she was in.

“Sweet,” Yang said, tossing an arm over her shoulder. She- and maybe Torchwick- was probably the only one at school who could get away with flaunting their height at her.

And it seemed that the blonde was already brimming with thoughts, which was more than Weiss could normally say. “So Nora seemed pretty opened minded,” she said. “Maybe she’d be interested. And if Nora’s in, so is Ren.” The only time they weren’t joined at the hip was the restroom, except for the occasion that Nora dragged Ren in there with her. “Ruby and Jaune are friends; maybe he’ll join just to hang out. That soccer star, Pyrrha seems kinda lonely- it’s gotta be hard transferring from Mistral halfway through high school.”

“Yeah right,” Weiss laughed. That garnered a look. “Well, I know that my father would have a fit if he knew I joined any club outside of fencing, especially a socially progressive one. The only thing he’d find worse was if I started one for Faunus rights,” she shook her head. “Anyway, I can’t imagine her parents would be too pleased to have her taking a stance like this, when it could potentially alienate different sports teams or colleges.”

“So why are _you_ joining?” Ruby asked. Then more quietly she added, “You’re not obligated to join, Weiss, we can take care of ourselves if you’re worried or not interested.”

Weiss’s eyes widened, “I’m certainly interested! I’m worried, yes, but I can’t let my father’s beliefs dictate my personal life. So long as I keep it out of business he has no reason to bother me.” She lifted her chin haughtily, looking ready to continue her argument.

“Take it easy,” Yang said. “Ruby just wanted to make sure you didn’t feel like you had to.”

“Believe me,” the heiress replied, “There isn’t a person alive who could force me to do something I didn’t want. It’s just easier if I don’t have to fight with my father.”

Violet eyes softened, “Fair enough.”

For a moment the only noise in the room was the scratching of the pen. “And done!” Ruby said cheerfully. “So long as Goodwitch keeps her promise, we can start officially tomorrow!”

“And how, exactly, is everyone going to know there’s a club to join?” Weiss asked pointedly.

The younger girl looked confused for a second before grinning, “We make fliers! Set up a time with Goodwitch to hold the first meeting and we make posters telling people the when, where and why.”

Weiss nodded primly, “A solid plan. I can talk to Miss Coral and book a certain time, library printer and amount of papers for our fliers.” She marched toward the door, “I’ll text you with the appointment, but for now…” she glanced at the clock, “I have to beat you two to the lunch line.” And bolted.

The sisters shared a look for a moment and then took off after her. Ruby was at the cafeteria and halfway through the line before they even got inside; both inwardly cursed the track and field star.

~

Blake had been staring at the poster on and off since the beginning of class and it seemed that Oobleck had noticed. “Are you considering joining,” he asked once the rest of the students immersed themselves in group work (as usual, Blake was working alone). “Whether or not you fit the categories,” LGBTQ, “you would likely be welcome, Belladonna.”

As unruly and caffeine driven as the man was, he was damn observant. Every time that Blake was addressed as ‘miss’ they would twitch, just slightly. Being a person who wanted to be as unseen as possible, he’d noticed the slight movement in contrast to their usual intense stillness.

“It’s a thought,” Blake admitted softly, constantly watching to see if a classmate would look up. “But I wouldn’t want it to interfere with my schoolwork.” That was a lie; they both knew it. Blake was an honor student, right up there with Pyrrha Nikos and Weiss fucking Schnee.

“Well,” the doctor said, “There is no shame in prioritizing one’s school work, but there certainly is in entirely dismissing social activities. Ozpin would be a fool to turn you out for getting less than a hundred and five percent on your next test.” Kind blue eyes peered at them over his glasses, “Food for thought, Belladonna.”

“Maybe, Doctor,” they murmured.

He gave a brief nod and then he was on the other side of the room, snapping at a student allowing another to copy her work.

Blake hummed meditatively as they wrote out the short answer question. Too easy, they thought, gaze drifting once again to the poster.

They had come across Ruby Rose more than once and found her awkwardly endearing and incredibly eager to please both her peers and her teachers- the two had worked together once for a psychology presentation. Blake was used to doing most of the work and allowing their partner to take equal credit just to keep their grades up, but Ruby had more than pulled her weight and gladly spoke in Blake’s place when they admitted to disliking public speaking, only having them say a bit to satisfy Goodwitch.

The girl’s sister, Yang, was a whirlwind in every class she was in. Blake could see the sheer potential in the girl, but they couldn’t seem to find any direction in her other than looking after Ruby, who appeared to adore Yang beyond words.

It made them think of Adam, how much he’d sacrificed for Blake, but unlike Yang, how little leeway he’d allowed in turn. Adam had wanted Blake to do things his way, following his orders, and practicing his ideals. They wondered how the two managed without any sort of pecking order.

“Good morning, Blake,” someone murmured.

They glanced up, attempting a smile for the only other Faunus in the room.

Velvet smiled back with a touch more sincerity, despite knowing what lay under Blake’s headband. Contrasting every other Faunus who’d identified them, Velvet held no resentment in Blake’s disguise, never called them a skinner, never threatened to tell.

“You’ve been spending more time on the problems than usual; I was wondering if you having trouble with this section.” Velvet acted as Oobleck’s TA, though she was simultaneously learning the material to take the AP test so that she wouldn’t have all the extra work on top of her college prep. The doctor allowed it because everyone knew that she wanted to be a history teacher and that made him more than willing to help.

“No, I’m fine thanks,” Blake answered politely, “I’m just thinking.” Their eyes landed back on the poster.

Velvet caught the glance with startling ease, “Are you joining too? If it’s nice maybe I’ll bring Coco, Yatsu, and Fox one of these days.” The Faunus blushed, “I guess I’m getting ahead of myself. And distracting you! Sorry.” She gave a nervous smile before hurrying off to find someone to help.

If Velvet was there, maybe it won’t be too bad, Blake mused. Maybe…

~

Pyrrha had been on the varsity team in soccer, volleyball, and track ever since she was a freshman. She’d won Haven Academy more than a dozen games despite her age and relative inexperience, travelled all over Mistral to compete and had more scholarships, both athletic and scholastic, lined up than the rest of her grade put together. And yet, she was intimidated beyond words by ballroom dancing.

She’d take basketball, soccer, softball, water polo, or even lion taming any day over being one of the two girls left in class with only one more guy to partner with.

Perhaps if she was more forward she could have grabbed someone immediately, but all the guys had looked anywhere but her. Being realistic, she knew it was likely her fame that daunted them, but it probably didn’t hurt that she was the tallest girl in the room, if not one of the tallest people.

So there she was, just her and a girl in white who’d approached her once when she first arrived. Pyrrha remembered her name- Weiss Schnee. Everyone knew that name. She’d, well, not disliked her, but hadn’t been too interested in her either. Weiss was uptight, proud, and though Pyrrha would never say it to her face, rather spoiled. The other girl was scowling in the direction of the blonde boy who was to choose a partner.

His approach was rather comical, overconfident in a way that conveyed he was clearly not even a little confident, something Pyrrha had learned to mask young. It made her heart ache a bit at his attempted flirtations, though most of his focus seemed to be on Weiss. When the pale girl shot him down, he turned his attentions to Pyrrha. Weiss proceeded to shoot him down on her behalf, rattling off her accomplishments and making the red head internally sigh as he looked disheartened.

A loud cough from the gym teacher reminded them that this was a graded activity, not an actual dance.

“May I have this dance,” he asked Weiss, smiling shyly.

Her face darkened and she looked abruptly from him to Pyrrha, offering her hand. “Dance with me, please?” the heiress asked, looking surprisingly earnest.

Pyrrha blinked, surprised by the offer, but slowly took her hand anyway.

“Thank you,” Weiss murmured, guiding her out toward the center. “Do you dance often,” she asked.

“Not at all, I’m afraid,” Pyrrha said, “I was hoping that my partner would know something.” She paused, taking in the other girl’s smaller stature. “Who leads?”

The smirk that crossed Weiss’s mouth caught Pyrrha off guard, “I will.” She brought Pyrrha’s left hand to her shoulder, placed her right at Pyrrha’s waist, and caught her free hand. “Follow my lead,” she ordered.

It was certainly untraditional and the pair garnered no small amount of looks, but it turned out that Weiss was an excellent dancer. She was forward, ever a leader, if a little pushy.

“I take it that you _do_ dance often,” Pyrrha asked her as they went through the motions- motions that seemed to be second nature to the small woman.

“Every party my father throws, every one he takes me to, and every one he makes me plan,” she replied, sounding tired. “But I rarely get the opportunity to lead.” Her mouth kicked up at the corner, “Or get to dance with someone I can more than tolerate.”

Pyrrha missed a beat, but Weiss maneuvered them out of the other dancers’ way. “Sorry, were you-?”

Weiss went red, “No! I mean, not that you’re not wonderful, but I doubt that you would be interested and…” She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut without missing a step. “I was not flirting,” she said slowly and quietly. “You are beautiful and nice and really talented, but I wasn’t flirting. But…” she trailed off again.

“But?” Pyrrha prompted. No one had ever sounded so close to flirting before and it made her a bit curious.

“Well, one of my- ah, friends noticed that you didn’t have a lot of people to hang out with, since you came in halfway through school,” Weiss said, eyes now open, but on their feet as she’d chastised Pyrrha for doing when they started. “We- the three of us- are starting a GSA. We need ten members to make it official and we were wondering if you wanted to join.”

The athlete stared blankly down at her. “GSA?”

Weiss cleared her throat, “Gay-Straight Alliance. It’s basically a safe place for people who aren’t straight and people who want to support us.” When Pyrrha didn’t immediately respond, she added, “But we get it if you don’t want to be associated. My father would have a fit if he knew.”

“Oh!” Pyrrha said softly, “I’ve seen the posters, but I never knew what it meant. At three ten, in Professor Goodwitch’s classroom, right?”

“That’s it,” Weiss confirmed. She looked like she was waiting to be brushed off.

But the taller girl grinned down, “That sounds wonderful, Weiss.”

The heiress blinked twice, just staring up at her now.

“We don’t really talk about these things in Mistral,” Pyrrha admitted, “It’s the sort of thing that’s discussed behind closed doors with people who won’t tell. It’s not overtly _bad_ , it’s just quietly… avoidant.”

“And you’re… open to that?”

Green eyes glanced either direction, a touch of fear in her chest, “I think I could use somewhere safe, to speak my heart.”

Slim fingers squeezed hers. “Everyone should be able to,” she whispered. For a moment, there was a touch of empathy, a connection for Pyrrha. But a tap on her shoulder sent a wave of ice back across the other girl’s visage.

“May I cut in?” Jaune asked.

Weiss gave Pyrrha a sympathetic smile, “You may.” She darted off, already tapping someone else on the shoulder.

“I guess you’re stuck with me,” the athlete said sympathetically.

Jaune smiled shyly, rubbing the back of his neck, “More like the other way around.”

~

Jaune repeatedly thunked his forehead against the stall door, cursing his ribs, his breasts, his uterus and that incredibly kind girl he’d run away from. Perhaps the last one wasn’t fair, but he hated everything right about now. He knew better than to wear his binder when exercising, but damn if he was going to be outed here.

The bathroom door swung open and he went incredibly still, his binder crumpled in his fingers. Maybe, since he was in the very last stall, the guy who came in wouldn’t see him. Gods, he hoped it wasn’t Cardin. If he saw Jaune’s shoes (crude little penises courtesy of the jerk himself drawn all over the white parts of his converse) he’d no doubt hop right over the stall walls and see everything.

He peaked out the crack to see a boy in green looking in the mirror.

Lie Ren, he knew. He was in Jaune’s psych, gym, and woodshop class and he rarely said more than three words to anyone who wasn’t his spunky pink-clad companion. But right now he looked forlorn.

The boy tugged at his ponytail, letting the silky locks fall loosely around his face and Jaune wondered for a moment if he’d been born female too. His theory seemed disproved as Ren withdrew a tube from his pocket and applied a layer of lip gloss, highlighting his lips. Her lips?

Jaune quickly pulled on his binder as best he could, pulled his shirt over his head, and stumbled out into the bathroom.

Immediately, something strong was around his throat and his cheek was pressed into the tile wall. “How much did you see?” Ren asked lowly.

“Everything,” Jaune admitted, taking in the other’s form. Ren looked surprisingly pretty, long hair glistening and pink lips curled into a frown. “But I’m not gonna tell,” he added quickly. “It would be kinda hypocritical of me.” Slowly, so as not to alarm his captor, Jaune pulled his gym shirt up almost to his shoulder, revealing the binder. “This is why I was hiding in here; I was afraid someone would see me.”

Ren bit their lower lip, releasing Jaune’s throat and stepping back, “Sorry. There’s only one person who knows and that’s because I’ve known her all my life.” They offered a hand, “Lie Ren- I’m,” they hesitated, “I’m a girl- today. Sometimes I’m not.”

“Jaune Arc,” he replied, taking the hand, “Totally not a girl.”

Ren’s smile was hesitant, but still present. “Sorry for the misunderstanding,” she said as they shook.

“Can’t be too careful,” Jaune said sympathetically. “No offense taken.”

There was a brief, awkward moment before they withdrew their hands. “We should go back to class,” Ren suggested, already tying her hair back.

“Uh, yeah,” the blonde agreed. He watched her wipe the gloss from her mouth before stepping toward the door. He waited until she looked back up. “Are you, uh, going to the GSA meet? I only know two people there and one of them doesn’t really like me.”

Magenta eyes looked to the floor. “Nora wants to go, but I’m not sure. I don’t want to risk our scholarships if one of us gets in a fight to stand up for ourselves.”

Jaune bit back a sigh, “I don’t blame you. One wrong pronoun and my parents will yank me out of here so fast that I’ll leave skid marks. See you later, Ren.”

Immediately outside the door, he ran face first into Pyrrha, nearing jumping right back through the door. “Pyrrha,” he yelped.

“Are you alright, Jaune,” she asked, looking worried. Her teeth ran over her lower lip and her eyes were wide with concern.

Aw, he hadn’t meant to upset her. “Yeah, just fine. Not feeling too good, but nothing that I can’t handle,” he told her breezily.

She wasn’t buying it, but neither did she go for his pride, “If you say so.” She gripped his shoulder, “Let me know if you need anything, alright? You seem like a good guy Jaune.”

For some reason that simple, unknowing comment floored him.

Of course, the exhilaration only lasted until the actual meeting.

~

Ruby had been careful to adhere to Goodwitch’s standards- no food, no colored drinks, and put back all the desks that they moved. Well, the last one couldn’t be dealt with as she’d yet to move any, but she was rather satisfied with Yang’s playlist, relaxing but not dull, and the club sodas and iced teas that Weiss had got ‘donated’ from the school cafeteria. Not to mention, within the first five minutes of the meeting there were six people.

Pyrrha Nikos was sitting upright in a desk towards the middle of the room, looking a bit nervous, but smiling warmly at those who met her eyes- Weiss in particular had greeted her at the door with a light hand on her wrist. Ruby suspected a crush, or at least hero worship. Though right now the ‘invincible girl’ was beset by an eager ginger.

Nora had dragged Ren in shortly after the meet had officially started and was attempting to make friends with the famous red head, who appeared entertained by Nora’s bold, comical nature.

Jaune had been there at the beginning, helping Weiss bring in the ‘donated’ goods and was now awkwardly trying to inquire about the pale girl’s orientation.

Velvet lingered toward the edge of the room, looking like she wanted to join in, but was unsure of how her presence would be received. Ruby offered her a smile; she got one in return, though the Faunus still didn’t approach. It was weird, Ruby noted, seeing her without one of her three friends.

As promised, Neo was perched on Goodwitch’s desk like a tri-toned gargoyle, unnerving grin and all.

The most recent entry was Blake, the quiet girl who sat in the back of every class Ruby shared with her. She’d been a competent project partner, if not very sociable. Ruby had done her best to get to know her without pushing too hard, but the younger girl was afraid she’d made her uncomfortable.

Weiss nudged her, mumbling “Say something,” under her breath.

Ruby cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention. Her first instinct was to dive under the nearest desk, but the looks, though expectant, were far from judgmental. She swallowed hard before speaking. “Hi everyone, I’m Ruby. Everyone pretty much knows why we’re here, so if you guys are okay with it, we could introduce ourselves?”

She felt a strong hand wrap around one of her quivering ones and glanced up to see Yang grinning down at her. The blonde spoke, “Hiya, I’m Ruby’s sister, Yang. I’m a junior, here on boxing and MMA scholarships, and I’m bisexual.” Violet eyes searched the room for the next speaker- she caught Nora’s eye.

“My name’s Nora,” the girl chirped, “Best batter on the softball team, underachieving student, and entirely straight.” There were a few prompting looks, asking her to elaborate, but Ren spoke up instead.

“I’m Lie Ren,” her friend said quietly. “Nora’s been my support since we were little; she understood, in her own way,” Ren said with a smile in the ginger’s direction, “That I’m genderfluid. I’m also asexual, but romantically oriented.”

Yang’s hand went up. “Yes?” Ren asked slowly.

“Pronouns? I had a genderfluid friend at Signal who just used neutral pronouns, though they said that some people prefer if you change it as they do,” she explained.

A genuine smile worked its way across Ren’s features, “In public, masculine is fine. But, if you don’t mind changing, I can tell you.”

“Feminine today,” Nora said.

“Or Nora can,” Ren added, acknowledging her friend with a tilt of the chin.

There was a brief silence before Pyrrha spoke. “Hello everyone, I’m Pyrrha,” she started, as if the whole school didn’t know her name and face (not that Jaune _had_ known before gym). She didn’t go into her schooling, just said, “And I have no idea what I am. I’ve never had the chance for a _real_ relationship or to consider my preferences. I think it will be nice to have people that I can talk to about it,” she finished, looking a little unsure.

“Well, as you all know, I’m Jaune Arc- junior, lousy athlete, awful with girls,” the blonde started with a self-deprecating smile. “Some of you may know me as vomit boy.” He gave the sisters a dark look, even as a few giggles rose throughout the room. “And frankly, I’m just happy it’s vomit ‘boy’ and not ‘girl’.” Luckily, everyone in the room seemed to take the cue and turned to the person Jaune then locked eyes with.

Velvet shuffled nervously in place. “Hi,” she said softly, “My name’s Velvet. I’m… I’m asexual, ironic, as most people have commented.” Her face had reddened a great deal. “I’m hetero-romantic, though I doubt any boy at this school wants anything to do with me. Guess I’ll see in college,” she trailed off.

The awkwardness was broken by Yang. “And you all know this one,” she said, nodding at Neo. “She doesn’t talk much, but she gets her point across.” The tricolored woman signed at Yang. “And she’s gay. Gay as…” she watched as Neo deliberately signed something out. “Gay as dicks,” she repeated, sounding amused.

“How many?” Nora asked. Ren covered her face with her hands, though Ruby could see a hint of a smile.

Neo responded by holding up fingers- nine.

“That’s a lot of gay,” the ginger ruminated.

The room descended into chuckles, even Neo deigning to make a sound.

Laughter dispersed and Velvet’s awkward introduction brushed aside, everyone looked between Weiss and Blake. The dark youth was clearly not interested in speaking, so Weiss did.

“Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Ammunitions Company. I’m captain of the fencing club and a top student-” Yang coughed. The pale girl paused, shifted a bit, and continued with, “And, contrary to my father’s and the media’s beliefs, I am a lesbian.”

Now everyone looked curious, while Weiss seemed to shrink in on herself, overwhelmed. Ruby, though a little surprised herself, came to her rescue. “Blake?”

For a second it looked like Blake would dart out of the room. “Blake Belladonna; I’m nonbinary,” they deadpanned. They paused for a long moment, before holding Ruby’s silver gaze and adding, “and being called ‘she’ and ‘miss’ is getting old.” This time their tone was a bit softer, more vulnerable.

“Thank you, for telling us, Blake,” Ruby said softly, before speaking for herself. “Like some of you might’ve heard in psychology, I’m demisexual. I’m also trans, but I’m lucky enough to pass easily- my parents got me blockers the moment I told them I was sure.”

By then, Velvet had moved closer to the center of the room, where Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora had formed a small cluster. Ruby actively inched forward, sitting on top of a desk a few ahead of the group. Everyone followed suit, Jaune taking a seat near Ren, who greeted him with a smile, the blonde muttering ‘Glad to see you’. Though still a bit on the outskirts, Blake followed, sitting a few spots over from Ruby and Yang who’d tested the desk’s limit by hopping up behind her. Neo remained on Goodwitch’s desk, while Weiss turned a desk to face the center of the slowly forming ellipse and sat down very properly.

Yang gave Weiss who’d taken a desk to her left, a look, “You never corrected me.” The blonde looked mildly offended and still on the surprised side.

Everyone’s eyes were on the heiress, but she merely lifted her chin with a thin smile. “You never asked, just assumed.” Chilly eyes scanned the room, “I trust that this will remain between us; I should hope that none of you are looking to see me disinherited.”

“We finally have one thing in common,” Jaune told Weiss, “And it’s the best reason why I shouldn’t be flirting with you. Thanks for that.”

“You are quite welcome,” she said briskly.

A silence settled over the group once again. Introductions aside, they were still relative strangers.

“How did you know?” Pyrrha blurted.

The room turned to her and she flushed brightly. The red head swallowed visibly and then added, “It’s just… I’ve always had a hard time, looking at people the same as the other girls on my team. When most of them had boyfriends or swore them off for the sake of their grades, I never really saw…” She shook her head. “People are attractive,” she tried, “But I don’t understand the- the desire that people have. But I still, well, I’ve never been in a relationship but I think I would be okay with one?” Pyrrha squirmed a bit, “I just wanted to know how all of you well… came to the conclusion?”

Ruby shared a look with Yang, who easily took the lead. “Well, my family is kinda weird, so Rubes and I always knew that there were other options. Our dad,” she tipped her head toward Ruby, “Is in a relationship with our respective moms.” Brows furrowed. “But our moms were together long before they thought to add him. And my mom’s brother, our Uncle Qrow, has always brought home boyfriends and girlfriends, so… it was never really something we worried about.

“When my friends started noticing the opposite sex, I noticed both,” Yang added, “And I just took it as normal.” She shrugged, shouldering Ruby in a ‘your turn’ fashion.

“I was kinda weird,” Ruby admitted, “My friends would immediately decide that they liked someone and I just didn’t get it. So by the time I met Wynn, I had assumed that I was ace. We were friends for months before I started noticing how pretty she was, or how much I wanted to be around her, or the way my heart jumped when she hugged me.” She smiled sardonically, “There was a mini crisis until I talked with Dad. He’s demi too, it turns out, which was why it took so long for him to say anything to Mom and Ma.” The girl in red trailed off.

Blake asked the obvious question, “What happened with Wynn?” Their tone was cautious, as if they had guessed the outcome already.

Her expression grew sad. “She was straight. And horrified.”

“Meh,” Yang drawled, “You can do better.” She drew the attention away from her sister, “What about you, Ice Queen? When did you know that you liked ladies?”

Weiss started, looking a bit like a bird with its feathers ruffled. “I was seven,” she replied bluntly. “My sister was talking about the boy that father set her up with and I asked her if he would set me up with a girl instead. I’d never seen Winter look scared before. She sat me down and we talked for hours, as seriously as seven and fourteen-year-olds could, and she made me swear that I would never tell father.” Her whole speech was made straight faced and stiffly. No one volunteered a question.

It appeared that no one desired to follow that statement.

Ruby looked frantically around the room, trying to come up with something to talk about, but even Yang looked flustered.

“So, is anyone else in Oobleck’s AP history,” Blake asked nonchalantly.

The meeting devolved into casual discussion of the day to day. Blake, Pyrrha and Weiss (top students that they were) fell into heavy talk about the approaching midterm paper, forming a nerdy cluster off to one side, notebooks and pencils out on their chosen desks. Jaune pulled Velvet over to where he spoke with Ren and Nora about a certain show they watched (that Velvet apparently liked as well) while Yang and Ruby sat with Neo whose attention was mostly on Yang.

Ruby didn’t mind, watching the little groups interact within and amongst each other. Occasionally Blake or Weiss would call out to Velvet who’d bolt over their group and talk history for a moment. Ren slunk over to join them after a while, trading spots with Velvet who’d struck up a quick friendship with Jaune, bonding over mutual awkwardness and confusion with Nora who at one point dragged Pyrrha out of the study group to back her up on a point that Pyrrha had no knowledge about, but thoroughly defended anyway.

The girl in red ambled around the room, glancing over shoulders and falling into the conversation on the off chance that she knew what they were talking about. Yang stuck with the more boisterous group once Neo had disappeared- for what reason and where to Ruby neither wanted nor needed to know.

Goodwitch’s arrival signaled the end of their designated forty minutes.

Painted pink lips curled into a frown as she addressed the students. “It’s a quarter past four,” she told them. “I expected that everyone to be gone twenty-five minutes ago.”

Most of the students didn’t protest, straightening the desks that they’d moved. Yang had to ask, “So why’re you here Prof?”

“I was curious as to the state of my classroom,” Goodwitch deadpanned. “Between you and Miss Rose, I assumed that Miss Schnee would not be able to contain the damage.”

“Then I hope that you are pleasantly surprised,” Pyrrha spoke up. “Thank you, by the way, for supervising.” The athlete gave her teacher a winning smile that made Goodwitch do a double take.

Pyrrha’s sentiments were echoed throughout the room, everyone smiling at the stern teacher in one degree or another. If they noticed a touch of pink her face, no one said anything.

“You may thank me by continuing your good behavior,” she told them, though her heart didn’t seem to be in the half threat. Goodwitch looked to Ruby, “I assume that you’ll be holding another meeting this time next week?”

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck, “Or maybe tomorrow?”

**Author's Note:**

> For now, this will remain a one shot.
> 
> If requested (and ideas are suggested and school doesn't drown me), I may write more.


End file.
